Hi am planning a trip from Asti, Italy to Vezeley, France. Should I take the Eurorail? Drive? How long would it be... any ideas please? Any other info, would be great. Thanks.
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
You will need to get a car at some point because Vezeley is not served by rail.
In any case, what an adventure, traveling from the foothills on the far side of the Alps!
That's a long train ride. You might consider the night train--just one change early on, then sleep until Dijon. Pick up a car there, or catch a train to Montbard (a little closer) and drive from there.
You could drive there in one punishing day through a tunnel through the Alps, or break your trip in one or more interesting places. I don't know what sort of drop-off fees you'd have to pay on your car, though.
If you don't care for that, you might want to investigate flights from Torino to Lyon or Paris. Rent a car at the airport when you land.
Probably your most dramatic option would be to take the lift over Mt. Blanc into France and proceed from Chamonix by rail.
Posted by
OP
Northridge, Ca, United States
5 posts
Thank you.
Have you been to Vezelay? If so where did you stay? We were considering the Chateaux De Vault...
any ideas? I appreciate any advice on this area.
Posted by
Boston
4132 posts
Near Vezeley are the beautiful Cousin valley and the old town of Avallon.
If you like a country walk, the town of Pierre-Perthuis mixes farms, history, and a natural rock bridge over part of the Cousin river. (You can't cross the rock, but it makes a nice destination.)
Nearby are salt springs that have been in use since Neolithic times--you can see Celtic and Roman ruins on site, and neolithic artifacts in a museum in St-Pere.
Just a short ways north of Vezelay, in Arcy-su-Cure, are caves with some drawings that date from the Neolithic period. This sounds better than it is, and I don't really recommend it.
Vezeley itself is stunning and surprisingly small. I imagine it being quite mobbed in season. If you are visiting when it is busy I think it would be worth staying in or near the town so as to enjoy it in the less-busy morning and evening.
There are other sights, and a car will take you farther easily, but these are the places close by where I have been (except for Avallon).